The rest of the day goes smooth, and we have packed all we need to get back to the ship. They guys repaired both transport ships, the one they brought here and the one we took from the Sleipnir; I'm glad they didn’t stay put while I was, well, cocooning. I have to thank Santángel for that.

With everything ready, all that’s left is actually leaving. The crew start boarding the ships while the colonists gather around us and cheer. I’d love to run to one of those ships and be over with it, but I'm the commanding officer and there’s protocol and a whole list of bullshit.

“We’ve received everything Arven, and thank you again for your hospitality”

“Oh please, we’ve only done what had to be done...you saved our lives, we only gave something in return, and not so grandiose as what we received”

“Alright alright i get it” I stretch out my only flesh limb, and reach for a handshake, which he immediately does as well “I hope you get this place up and running for my next leave, i’m planning for a vacation here”

“There’s a myriad of better places out there Commander, but i’ll gladly receive you here… best of luck on your travels”

We part ways then, although I'm still stuck with signing documents with the details of what happened during our stay, the resources we are taking with us, and the documentation about the people we lost in the fight. The last one is troublesome, I didn't get to know those three soldiers, and we can’t carry their corpses with us; the colonists we kind enough to give them a place in the community burial grounds, but there’s still paperwork for all that. I wish i could pass this to Santángel as well, he seems like the type of guy who would love to do this.

Wait a minute.

Hallie, can I pass the administrative duty to a Lieutenant Commander according to the reglament?

[Such action is allowed on certain circumstances such as…]

Shhh now, you said enough. I have the best idea for a disciplinary action.

“Santángel!” I shout, and the muscular soldier, who was carrying some metal crates near one of the ships, one in each arm, turns around surprised.

“Get your ass here and deal with this... it’s an order” I use my commanding voice for that, inflicting a bit of pressure on him. He looks at me wondering what he’d done to anger me, and I just return a smug smile. After looking lost for a moment, he seems to catch on and smiles, nodding with his head.

“Yes ma’am!”

I had already told him before that I would find a way to punish his recklessness, although I commended his quick wit. A light punishment, but i had to do something at least for the sake of reminding them of their duties.

A couple of hours more, and we are all embarked in the ships. The one I'm in has Novak, Lai and fifteen other soldiers, including Apprentice Saar, a bright eyed girl that catched my attention earlier, she reminded me of my earlier years in the academy, minus the trauma of the… ‘training’ that we endured. Looking back into it, I owe my life to that training, as it managed to make me an extremely efficient killing machine, something that has saved the life of others and even my own. Sure, there are moments I resent, but… hmm? I don’t seem to be able to remember them that well now… that’s weird.

“Commander?” Lai asks, sitting next to me on the ship.

I’m a bit startled, as I didn't even notice her; I'm always extremely conscious of my surroundings, so this never happens.

“Y-yeah, what’s up Lai?” I ask, still reeling from the surprise.

“We are ready for takeoff, should I give the order?”

“Go ahead”

She signals the pilot and I feel the engines powering up and lifting us from the ground. I expected Lai to pilot the ship, as we did before, but it looks like that there’s an assigned pilot for it. She was really confident in her ability before, so I should look into our roster and figure out the best people for every role. Or well… there’s Santángel.

I smile for myself, leaving my memory loss for another moment; i can always worry about it later.

The flight goes smooth, and we arrive at the Sleipnir cargo bay in an hour. OOD Rovers is there waiting for us, a look of relief in his face as he sees us. While we are unloading, Lai gets besides me, with a round device in her hand, extending it towards me.

“Commander, there’s a call from the board” She said with haste.

I grabbed the device, and instantly I saw a projection of the same people that were at the meeting on Arkanth-1, where I first learned about my actual circumstances. There’s General Hyrvin, Dr. Arman, and the Van der Mann bitch, along with twenty more unknown faces. In front of me was a digital meeting room, projected through some kind of software.

“Greeting Miss Lilith” Said Van der Mann, with the same, unchanged dead look in her eyes.

“Miss Lilith! Tell me about the Cocoon protocol! How did it feel?” Said Dr. Arman, butting in with a fervent look as if I held the truth of the universe.

I stood there silent, somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden surprise. How did these people already know about the incident? And the cocoon stuff? As I wonder about that, I glance towards Lai, and see her looking at me with an expecting look in her eyes. I already expected these old fucks to send someone to keep track of my actions, but I didn't expect them to show their own hand so soon. They must be sure of their methods to keep me in line, like that thing they did to shut down my implants.

But the thing that bothers me the most is...

Goddamit Lai, I was actually starting to like you.